The Sun. — London, England, 1808-12-13 00:00:00

This Day was published, By T. CAD E 1. I. and W. DAVIES, Strand, A NeW . F.Mtion, much Enlarged and Improved, of )13SEIWATIONS on DISEASES incident to SEAMEN, whether employed on, or retired from, 7 ;tial Service, for Accidents, Infirmities, or Old Age. :713y ROBERT ROBERTSON, M.D. F.R.S. F.A.S. • 'ember of the Royal College of Physicians ; and Physician to the Royal Hospital, Greenwich. - • •• 'ln four large volumes, Svo. price 11. t:is, in boards, or on yal.paper, zl. Ss. inboards. This Day was published, Two Vols. Bvo. illustrated by new Maps, price tss. in boards, a new Edition, bei..g the Vont - ill, of LENIENTS of GENERAL HISTORY, An ei.-!nt and Modem; to which are added, a Table of kronology, and a Comparative View of Ancient and Mo— rn Gcogradhy. By thel-lon. ALEX. FRAZER TYTLER, Lord WOODHOUSELEE. • Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand; and W. `..reech, Edinburgh. • MAI LS. s G o ttenburgh, Malta, t z Waterford. PRICE.OI 7 STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWELVII. O'CLOCK. -66 i I Red. Aim. 65 Omnium 111$. .:onsols THE SUN. 'OLIN! QUIZ niczaz !ALBUM AUDIAT ? L 0 ND 0 7+l, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1808. How comes it," says an Opposition Paper, that we never undertake a Naval Expedition with out success, and never undertake a Land Expedi tion without failure ?" Before we are called upon to. account for this extraodinary difference between the land and sea service, we think it would have been quite as well if the Paper in question had con descended to give us some proof of the faEt. Tha there are more instances of success to be met with in our Naval than in our Military Records, is true —and the reason is obvious—we are a maritime nation, its chief force -consists in its navy, and our contests are more frequent on the Sea titan on the Land : but with the exception of two expeditions planned by the late Ministers, viz. to Egypt and to Buenos Ayres, we really are at a loss to know what are the military failures to which our opponent alludes. Much clamour has been raised about the Convention in Portugal, but surely no man can seriously call our Expedition to that country a failure. It is true the terms of the Con vention did not answer the sanguine expeetations that were entertained by many persons, but to say that to beat the French iu two battles, to force them to evacuate Portugal, and to restore that kingdom to our Ally;was "a failure," is an absolute' contradiction in terms; but provided Ministers can hut be attacked,the truth of an assertion, or the consistency of an argu ment, is but little attended to; and this eagerness to assail the Administration, sometimes betrays their opponents into the most ludicrous contradidion. In commenting upon the affair of Gen. WHITELOCKE and the Convention of Cintra, the Parer to which we have already alluded, says, that in the former case it was the wish of Ministers to throw the odium upon their prededessors, and in the latter to skreen themselves : that is to say, the present Mini sters, in order to throw blame upon their pre decessors, brought a dire& specific charge against a General Officer, which had no reference what ever to the Ministers that appointed him ; and when they wanted to skreen themselves, they did not accus - e any individual, but instituted a mode of proceeding by which the conduCt of all parties con cerned, Ministers as well as Officers, must be fully investigated ; they inculpate their predecessors, by throwing the blame of the failure on the Officer who commanded, and they skreen themselves by promoting a full examinetion of their conduCt Yesterday her Royal Highness the Princess of WALL:S visited Kensington, and returned back to Blackheath to dinner. His Royal Highness the Duke of YORK returned to town yesterday, from Oatlands. Yesterday Messrs. HUNTER and RUkFE, King's Messengers, lett town with Dispatches for Spain. Captain MAl:arcs, of the Savage, who defended the Diamond Rock with such extraordinary bravery, is promoted 10 a Post-Captain by Sir ALEXAND►iR COGLIRANE, and appointed Governor of Mariega ;ante. A bag of letters was yesterday received from He ligoland. The following is a copy of a letter posted at LLOYD'S " HELIGOLAND, DEC. 7.—One P. M.—We 'have experienced a most tremendous storm here, which has done, and is still doing, a vast deal of mischief to the shipping. Four or more Vessels are on shore on Sandy Island—one of them a Swe dish Galliot from Gottenburgh. A Vessel laden with sugar and, coffee, from England, is on shore on the beach, and it is expected will go to pieces.— Another Vessel lays under water at Sandy Island. — Several have been driven off the coast during the night, and it is feared will founder.—A large Sloop sunk in the Harbour.--A Vessel laden with West India produce has been blown off with only a few hands on board. " Two o'clock P. 211.—Three more Vessels on Shore, and several have been blown away. " DEC. B.—lt ,blew so hard last nig'lt, that only five Ships remained at and►or ; the rest were driven on snore." BREAD _There being no-Court of Aldermen held to-day, the Lord Mayor, alter inspedini the returns, it to rise 2d: perveck. NAVAL N EW S. FALMOUTH, DEC. O.—Sailed the Dispatch Packet, Capt. HARRIS, with Mails for Corunna ; Lord Ho bart Packet, Capt. HAMILTON, Witil Mails for the Mediterranean; and the Winds - or Castle Packet, Capt. SUTTON, with Mails for the Brazils. PORTSMOUTH, Dac. 12.—Arriye.d the. Mariner, FORD, and Expedition, PINDAR, from the Downs, bound to Jamaica, the latter of which lost an anchor and cable. Also arrived the Providence, SMITH, JOhanHah, --, Friendship and Phoenix, from London ; also the Emity, —, from Lynn ; Betty, LouGll,CereS, MOrd, THOMAS, J'ew Concord, HEDLEY, and Commerce, SNOOK, from Sunderland ; Atalanta, from Shields ; and the Francis, REDLA:qI), from Fowey. SHEERNESS, DEC. H.—Sailed for the Downs His Majesty's Sloop Royalist, Capt. MAXWELL. Arrived the .Deptford Tender, Lieut. ANTRAM, with volunteers and impressed men for : the Fleet. Mr. JOHN STRANG is appointed Surgeon of His Majesty's Ship ginchelsea, in lieu of Mr. DANIEL LANE. DEAL, DEC. 12.—Arrived his Majesty's Ship St. Fiorenzo, with the tollowing , Ships under convoy, viz.—Sir William. Pultney, Worcester, Walpole, Union, Duke of Montrose, and the Northampton, from Bengal ; Ranger, Rover, Ferret, Skelton, and .he Charming Kitty, KING, from the South Seas. EXTRACT OF A LETTER RECEIVED BY MESSRS. HOGG AND CO. FROM MR. ROBERTSON, CHIEF MATE OF THE CATHARINE, FENN, FROM LONDON TO MALTA, DATED MALTA, SEPT. 26, 1808. GENTLEMEN---. " I do Myself the honour to inform you of the safe arrival of the Ship Catharine in this port, from Gibraltar, which place she left on the Bth instant ; but I am sorry to add that Captain FENN was very badly wounded, on the 13th inst. in latitude 38. 35. long. 3. 20. by a shot, in an action with a Ftench. Privateer. On that day a sail hove in sight on the larboard bow, on a wind, standing for us. We hoisted ensign and pendant, and fired a gun ; she strewed St. George's flag and pendant, anti stood on until she got into our wake, then bore np directly for u . We prepared every thing for action, being suspicious of her ; and as soon as it was possible to be understood, by Captain FENN'S order,' I hailed, and asked from whence she came ? She answered, - from Gibraltar, and was in distress for water. .I ordered her to haul her wind immediately, or we should fire into her. She still cried out, Water ! water'." and came on, when I immediately pointed one of the stern guns, and ordered fire. I then jumped to the opposite.gun, pointed it. and ordered fire. This order was countermanded, in conse quence of her crying ". Mercy ?" and " Water 1" but as soon as the smoke of • the first gun cleared away, Captain FENN saw with his gl,,iss that they were getting ready to change their colours, and wer e pointing their bow guns. He called out, "Itis a Frenchman, fire away !" He no sooner spoke, than be got the contents of the second ; but before our guns could be fired again, he grappled, and com menced a heavy fire with grape and musketry. I immediately seized a musket, and-shot the Captain, who was going to give orders through his trumpet. I sung out, " I have shot the Captain !—Victory, my boys !" and we gave him three cheers to advance. They returned the same, and came on r bravely, when poor FENN, with his boarding pike in his hand, was shot through the body. He addressed himself to me—" I am shot ; but fight on, my dear fellow." I encouraged my men, and soon repelled the boarders with very great slaughter. In about half an hour, like savages they sang out, and came on again, but were again repulsed with considerable loss. This caused such great con fusion amongst them, that they got their grapplings unhooked, and 'took a broad sheer-oil, which I im proved immediately, by sheering likewise, and got two of the great guns iuto him before he could get to again. This, no doubt, damped their courage, but they again boarded with three cheer,, and several succeeded in getting over our nettings into the poop, but our men, like heroes, made a bold push, and ei ther killed or wounded every man who made Ids ap pearance; and those poor devils who had the impu dence to come on the poop were also shoved over board with the pikes fast in their bodies. This was the sickening job, for they made a terrible noise, got their grapplings unhooked, when I ordered the man. at the wheel to lull the Ship to give a broadside. Unfortunately the Ship was unmanageable, her sails and running rigging flying in all directions; but' ai a substitute gave them the stern chasers, entirely loaded with grape, as long as h could be of service. I then gave all the hands a good glass of grog, and like smart fellows soon got the vessel on her course again. This being done, I ran to the Captain, and dressed his wounds ; he was then apparently dying, but through a miracle we have preserved his life.— 'He is in a tolerable fair way, and On shore, under the Doctor's charge. " The privateer was a fine latine-rigged vessel, carrying two large sails, and her decks as lull of men as possible ; we judge from seventy to eighty. We must have killed a great number, as a great quantity of blood rose on the water. It appeared to me a mi racle that none of our men were killed, as the grape and musket balls came in like hail. We had only two Men slightly wounded, one of whom was at the wheel." Captain BOWLES is appointed to the Medusa, at Portsmouth ; Captain AIBOLEAU to command the Sea Fenciie•les at Salcombe, vice PORTLOCK ; Captain ROBERTS, to the Castor; Captain .I.lilosiTAoua, to the Declaignetise ; Caw* p g apos,. of the Proeris, to. the Terpsichore ; Captain ,NOVRtili, to the ire derickstein ; Captain D'AUVERGNE, to the Albtiore ; Captain SKINNER, to the Gold, finch Captain Hew hON to the Monmouth. COURT OF INQUIRY. in which he urged the same reasons for dtcWri that the Army should not advance, which he had before detailed, namely, the want of cavalry and ti deficiency of artillery horses. This morning the Cnn-rt resomed its sittings at the usual hour. A Letter was read addressed „by Sir Hew DAL RV4PLE to Sir CHARLES COTTON, congratulating A. motion was made in the Court of Chancery, its Dublin, on Thur,day last, for an attachment against - an Attorney, for publishing in the Newspapers thd proceedings of that -Court in reversing the Deorec of another, as it cast retledions upon some of the parties, and' introduced matter which was hurtful to their feelings. His Loidship said he was proud - to find the, pro-_ ceedings of Courts published, and he wished to see a great deal more of 'them, as they answered must sa lutary purposes., It shewed the people how-to guidd themselves when similar cases should •occur ; and. it Judges sae& wrong, the proceedings might .to be published. He, for his part, wished every Decree., he hid, or'woe.ld.makei was in every Newspaper in the kingdom ; and . that if the PIT'S WAS. to be gagged, god knows .here it would end.—St.;•=l language does honour to the. head and. the iicatt of the Noble and. ..earned Lord..—Motion refused. him in the result of the battle of Vimiera, and stat. ing the offer of the French to negotiate. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY read a short st a tement to the Court in answer to a Letter sent him by the President, observing, that it remained with Sir HARRY BURRARD to give a narrative of the proceed ings of the Army up to the morning of the 22d, and that if he (Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY) thought i t necessary he would after that narrative had been read request the indulgence of delivering in a state. ment respelling any such parts of the narrative that he might deem it necessary to comment upon. Sir HARRY .BURRARD then came forward, and read, somewhat rapidly, a narrative of his proceed- ings up •to the period 'of Sir How Dki..RYMPLR'4 ; taking the command. ers, that the two Ladieserelations o f. M . TALeor - On the :1 th of July , he first - It has been' ereoneously stated in.:sorne of the Pa eeceived intimation of its being his Majesty's inters- AND, who have been restored to the ir coantry by command lion to place -him second in of an army Order of our Coierninent, w.ere abbbinpanied 3 -f .u,vou men ;on me 21s; ne received instruction. lipir journor by Mr e Scimw, a King's Mbssetige r ' ' • -he fad is, that these Ladies, whilst' in town 1,33 from his Royal Highness the Ccitumander in Chiefo permission to go. wherever they thought proecr , i mid then learnt that the destination: of the army was and when they set 'out on their return 'to Franca , Portugal. On the 23d he received his final instruc- whia was on Friday last, they were accompanied by' .. _. ! re'Russian and French Couriers, who biought , ever tions from Lord CASTLEREA'GH a nd lost time in ,he last communications from the Continent. They , r going to Portsite'ptitli, and making every necess4rx experienced the most liberal treatmen t whilst ' they : , r preparation for embarkation. On the 31st he sailed remained in this counety. Mr. Scn ew lett tows ~ between eight and nine o'clock on S aturda y ni g ht, from Portsmouth with the Adjutant General , Quai - And saileel from Dover on Sunday. ter Master General, and the Officers of his Statf.— Wha:ever may be the issue of the present mos! i His °hie& was t0,,g0 forward in a light vessel to join interesting struggle in Spain, the assistance ‘ k hiCh j't the troops already in Portugal under Sir ARTHUR j h,s received from this country will be eternally ree corded to our honour. A record of a -very different WELLESLEY, and on the :16th of August, having . ;kind will for ever disgrace : the annals of Fralice;aocl neared Cape Finisterre he went forward in the Bra- :the •:, t 'posterity of the present race of French will loath zen Sloop. He airited: off Mondego on the the memory of their ancestors, who' could suffe t themselves to be driven by a foreign Usurper, to 18th, and took measures to coMtnimicate with spread carnage and desolation over an uno ff e ndlng Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY. He sailed forwar d, ;people, in order to redu ce them to slavery. If leaviog instructions at IVondego for Sir JOHN ; Frenchmen were capable of reflection , or were not 'debased by habit, they would revolt with horror Mootie, and on the Igth Sir ARTHUR WILLESLEY from so execrable a 'purpose, and turn all their' came on board and 11%0 , the expediency of the against the ambitious Despot who compels theo t° carry it into execution. THE THEATEE.—The Romance of lrenoni, last night brought forward with the new third which had been announced at Drury Lane Theatre". much Play has certainly been uch improved by th r change, and the efil.6t is more impressive. The r° ' '' lowing is a sketch of the New Act. It appears 02" t for twenty years a Friar, called, Lodovico, has be e confined in a subierraneous dungeon, in consequence of his having threatened to betray the,Friars' in the adjoining cell Venoni is confined, but i..zir- 1 °: vivo has worked an opening through the parry-w'o' lf and has also discovered in Venoni's dungeon a put` vate door, but his age prevents Lodovico in g through it. Venoni, however, succeeds in fer r c' ing, and escapes. In the mean while the Prior 0.0 ders the Abbess. to draw Josepho from the pr, t , where she has been confined, while she was rel),;er ed to be dead : a last attempt is made to induce "41 to yielel.to-ehe Prior's wishes; but Joseplia resis t ' `er temptations, is on the point of being restored to 3 1 , e prison, when in effecting his escape through t of garden of the Ursulines, Yemeni hears the cries". his mistress, and rushes to her assistance ; b e however, pursued by the Prior with his accorePlciti: and the lovers are on the brink of destruction , Father Michael's timely arrival assures their and the ruin of their persutors But though the efred o ec f the . piece is confidert ably amended, it may be questioned wheth er is right to give such a representation of the clor% ter of Friars, Abbesses, and Nuns ; for 0000 by condemn their religious creed, it i' surely c ritable to lesssen their moral eslitnation, aed it is b r no means probable that such scenes as the A l-it • 1 0 , has drawn have really taken place. The alteratl:e, however, was very well received bw the au‘lrs, and the piece concluded with great a pplause.'", a l it) H. SIDDONS, who was before so interestiog ir‘eater play, having more to do, appeared to s ti he piece, advantage.—BeenToN also ably supported llg' of the and Mrs. MUDIE sustained the character Abbess with judgment and effect. ,so Of CATAI.ANI is gone to Bath for the• p ur r s-, opening Subscription Concerts at that place , it; —o she and the Manager of the Opera House site),,t not conclude the negociation fur her return 'to t"' Theatre. thc It is to be hoped that some more reliques fron l , j . e • pen of the late Mr.Tostbr will be found, as the r ic ; already presented to the Public have so [-ouch sterlei merit. If he had intended that the charaeters or be supported by the performers in his School • .0 Authors, he could not have adapted them bettor their respedive powers. Some severe restrictions with respect to Ottnr,„ have recently been adopted at Drury-lane Theatr,g, and even the Proprietors have passed a self -deify ry ordinance, which almost annihilates their owl r, o e vilege of granting free - admiss ion. We hope r, flourishing state of the property ha s led.to this rangement. A m atchf , la r o o n n e ti h ) e u n r d o r a e c d i guineas on Saturday Sunbury, which exceeded every thing of the oder on sporting record. A mean looking policy, `tray thirteen hands, the properly of -- Biss, backed for the above sum, to go 12 m iles ill tpo in an hour. Sir T. Wright backed time ag ii' tvti o poney, and the Rev. Mr. Pope was urP ire- ', / ,3tc l ' with Sir Thomas rode with the poney.riThie i , t was lost by two minutes, the poney, I .o ° larger than a fine dog, never once broke•voce, odds before starting were against th e petw" t o ' d ° The poney is matched again for a round •sol Doo r ' thirteen miles, either to trot or gallop , i" a° this week. Welliq to Died, on Thursday the Ist inst. at jo t 0 , 0 rough, NOrthamptonshire, whilst on 'a ;00'1 duct Yorkshire, after two or three days ihrWs'; l o ot the 24th year of her age, FRANCES, S'C C ; 11 ' t er. tel Or EDWARD MAXWELL, Evi. of Cillchic' army advancing. Sir ARTHUR c'etailed his reasons for wishing that the army should advance, and he (Sir HARRY BURRARD) aware of the great import tam: of his decision, zmaturely considered all the grounds for this opinion which had been advanced by Sir ARTHUR. The result of his deliberation was a decision tt►at'the army ought not to advance, but to hatt and wait the arrival of r_•inforcements. In coming to this determination, he was decided by the state of the Army. The want of cavalry, and the insufficiency of the artillery horses to drag the Artillery, appeared to him to be insuperable ob jedions to advancing, as such a line of condua could not have been adopted without great haiard. The French also could retreat upon their covering poition, without our troops being able to prevent it. It was--likewise absolutely necessary that our army should keep up a communication with the ViCtuallers, there being no resources in the Country for the supply of the troops. Supposing also that an army could have reached the defences of the Tagus, still•it would have been unavailing. Fort Saint Julien, although of little strength on the land side, could riot be taken without heavy artil. lery, nor could the other forts ; and being very strong on the sea side, Sir C. COTTON might have been driven Off, as aFtually, happened shortly after wards. The French likewise might have thrown up a held-work, which it would have required time on the part of onr army to take. All these considerations induced him to decide that the army ought to halt, and this determination met with the approbation of the Officers with him. Subsequently, learning, on the 21st, that the troops were engaged at Vimiera, he advanced towards the field of battle, where he communicated with Sir A. WELLESLEY, and desired him to finish the work which he had so well begun. It appeared to him, as far as he could judge, that the enemy had been reptilsed at all points. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLY again urged the expediency of advancing. He was not then aware that he should be subsequently called upon to account for every part of his condu&, and he could not now recollea, precisely, what expressions lie then used; but the same reasons which before determined him to dire& that the army should halt, still operated to induce him to decide that the army should not advance. The difficulties which arose from the want of cavalry were rendered evi dent by that anion, and the deficiency of artillery horses still remained. The road by which the Army must have advanced was also in many places extremely difficult, and which in his mind rendered it still more inexpedient that the army should advance. The points we have detailed forined pretty nearly the—substance of Sir HARRY BoßaArn's narrative, which after reading he delivered to the President. A Gentleman- who officiated for the Judge Ad ♦ocate, read- a string of questions which had been previously sent to Sir H. BURRARD, and the latter rad his answers, which chiefly tended to the same points which were dwelt upon in his narritlive, and